You will postings for weekdays October 29 - November 1 below.
Solemnity of All Saints
(I John 3:1-3)
When the church celebrates saints like Andrew Kim of Korea or Paul Miki of Japan, I wonder if the feasts are relevant to most of the people at Mass where I live (in northern Mexico). I don’t think it is prejudice against Koreans and Japanese that drives my reservation. It seems more a question of the possibility of people in the West identifying with saints from a far-off culture. Today’s Feast of All Saints, however, indicates that my difficulty is really a near-sightedness of vision.
We rejoice today over how God has brought people of every culture together in an intimate union through Jesus Christ. With Koreans and Japanese as well as with Africans, Arabs, Indians, and Catholic Christians everywhere we share not only the same genetic structure but also the same core values and beliefs. More than that, we all consume the Eucharistic food and drink that transforms us into one body and one spirit. In the communion of local churches from the far corners of the earth the hope of global peace shines.
Some will say that the best peoples of the world can do is to tolerate one another. By our participation in the universal Church we say much more is possible. Although the day of global unity may be far off, in proclaiming “all saints” – that is the holy ones from every culture and time -- we dedicate ourselves to the realization of that end.
No comments:
Post a Comment